Chapter 88: Kill The Hesitation

“Why am I hesitating…?!”

His scream tore violently through the night, raw and unfiltered, carrying a sharp edge of frustration and anger, but his scream wasn’t enough to silence the growls and snarls of the dire wolves, who hadn’t stopped rushing at him.

They didn’t hesitate.

They just kept coming, making Lucian even more irritated.

Suddenly—

A sharp, instinctive danger surged through him, making him snap his head backward.

And the instant he did, his eyes widened.

“Motherfuck—”

His eyes snapped to the side as he instantly dodged another attack from a dire wolf, not even being able to complete his curse.

The others didn’t stop attacking him, and neither did Lucian stop dodging their attacks.

He kicked one of them sharply, before his eyes flickered to the side—towards the newcomer.

Another dire wolf had come in.

And it wasn’t just another one of them.

The moment it stepped into the battlefield—

Everything changed.

The new arrival of the dire wolf made all the wolves stop in their tracks for a second.

Their movements stilled, as they noticed the larger dire wolf.

Soon, they raised their heads to the sky, before letting out a loud howl, as their voices overlapped into a chaotic chorus, as if announcing something—maybe that their leader was here.

Lucian didn’t know.

His gaze locked onto it.

The new dire wolf was large—about twice the size of the normal ones, its body probably taller than Lucian’s.

Its fur was coarse black, as dark as night—something that Lucian could see clearly because of his night vision.

Its mouth curled into a snarl, pulling back to reveal its rows of sharp, jagged teeth, each one glinting as saliva dripped from its jaws, heavy droplets falling onto the ground.

Its sharp, feral eyes moved slowly, deliberately scanning the surroundings, passing through the dire wolves, over the corpses, like a leader checking its people, observing over its domain.

Seeing some of the dead wolves that had fallen, a low growl came from its mouth.

Soon, its head raised to the sky, as its howl tore through the night, loud enough to deafen the other wolves’ howls.

***

“Wh–What is h–happening out–outside?!” A woman’s trembling voice echoed weakly as she stammered, her words breaking apart as fear tightened her throat, from inside her house as she heard the loud noise coming from outside.

Beside her, her son shifted nervously, his eyes wide with fear as he listened to the distant, monstrous sounds bleeding through the walls.

“Th–the monsters… the-they haven’t gone still?” he muttered beside her, his voice shaking and trembling with fear.

“Wh–when will th–they go aw–away?” her daughter’s voice broke as she cried, clutching onto her mother’s dress, her fingers digging tightly into the fabric.

The woman’s eyes flickered over both of them, her heart tightening at the sight of their fear, before her eyes shifted as she looked at her husband.

He nodded silently through his clenched jaw.

“I’ll check,” he said, his voice slightly calmer and controlled than theirs.

But the woman could clearly hear the uneasiness in his voice.

He was just trying to act brave for his children.

He slowly stood up.

“AAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO——!!!”

Hearing the sudden, almost deafening howl coming from outside, more louder than the previous one, his body trembled violently.

His knees buckled as all his courage vanished like a flickering candle flame in a storm.

He dropped down again, his body trembling uncontrollably as his hands instinctively braced against the floor.

“I don’t th–think we should see o–outside,” he said, trying to keep his voice steady despite the trembling in it.

He was scared.

He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t face whatever was out there.

He, along with all the others, was trembling in the fear of the sudden, animalistic loud howl that tore from outside.

“Let’s just hide here till morning,” he added finally, his tone quieter now, almost pleading.

None of them declined, even though they were hiding inside the bathroom, crammed in the tight space.

They didn’t care about that right now.

And it wasn’t just their house that had heard the sound.

Many people, at least the ones who lived nearby, had heard it.

The loud, overwhelming howl made everyone tense, spreading fear like wildfire.

It shook all of them, making them even more scared than before.

Even the ones who tried to be brave—or were brave and thought about stepping outside, about fighting the monsters—

All of those foolish thoughts disappeared instantly.

Crushed and extinguished.

They weren’t fools.

They didn’t have a death wish.

All of them shut their houses completely, closing every window, not letting even a mosquito enter their homes.

None of them dared to go outside.

Even those who had almost managed to fall asleep despite the fear were woken up, nearly jumping from their positions.

***

“AAAOOOOOOOOOOO—!!!”

Lucian winced, listening to the deafening howl of the new direwolf.

He instantly scanned it.

He had looked at the other dire wolves’ statuses previously.

All of them—nearly all of them had the same status window, with only a few of them having different bloodlines.

And all of them were F rank.

But this one…

Lucian didn’t have a good feeling about this one.

[Status Window — Direwolf]

Race – Direwolf

Rank – E

Titles – None

Bloodline – Ironfang Bloodline

Affinity – None

— — —

And it seems he was right.

This dire wolf was an E rank.

Not the same as the ones he had been fighting till now.

“Ha… ha…” His breathing grew ragged and uneven—not by the arrival of the new direwolf.

No.

It was just that he was exhausted, and seeing the new monster…

The fight from here on wouldn’t be easy.

He could die… and would probably die if he didn’t do something.

His legs trembled faintly, his palms burned from gripping the dagger so tightly for such a long time.

But despite this situation—

“Why am I hesitating?” he muttered again, almost ignoring the E rank wolf.

He didn’t care about its arrival right now, didn’t care if it changed the situation suddenly.

Right now—

His mind scrambled for answers, persisting on the same question repeating in his brain again and again.

Even as his head faintly throbbed because of the constant use of the suppression skill, even as he felt his surroundings spinning for a split second, it searched.

It searched—no, it demanded an answer.

Why?

Why was he still hesitating?

After a few seconds, the answer came to him.

The realisation came suddenly, as his eyes glinted with a small understanding.

‘I just don’t want to run away from them,’ he thought, feeling ridiculous at himself for having such a small and stupid reason.

Since when…?

Since when had he become like this?

Since when had he been so prideful?

Since when had his family’s life grown weaker before his pride?

He didn’t want to leave his mother and sister like this, dying over here just because he didn’t know how to escape from them.

He knew he could.

They weren’t even focused on him for this second, so he could.

But—

But… he also didn’t want to leave them… alive.

The wolves—no, direwolves.

He had decided to kill them.

And he wanted to do it.

He was going to kill them.

All of them.

Every last one.

Still… he was hesitating.

Hesitating to make a clear decision.

Then—

Someone answered his questions.

Someone who had been with him since his previous life, helping him in his journey till now.

[Ding!~]

A sudden chime rang clearly in his head, jolting him out of his thoughts.

His eyes widened slightly before they stared at the sudden screen that had just appeared before him.

[A new quest has been generated.]

[Quest: Kill The Hesitation]

Main objective:

– Kill all the F rank dire wolves that have been ambushing you.

– Don’t let any of them escape.

Reward: 50 Attribute Points

Bonus objective:

– Deal with the newbie who has just arrived.

– Kill the E rank dire wolf.

Bonus Rewards: 100 Attribute Points

Difficulty: A

Failure Penalty: None — If you are alive

— — — —

Lucian silently stared at the new quest, dumbfounded.

For a second, everything went quiet—the howls, the dull thudding in his head… everything.

From the title, it felt like it was a quest meant to make him take a decision, to help him get in control of his emotions.

It said Kill the Hesitation.

But the objectives weren’t even close to it.

“…”

A faint exhale escaped his lips.

“Akasha… you are crazy,” he couldn’t help but mutter softly, his voice carrying a mix of disbelief and ridicule.𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

The rewards were good, even tempting.

But everything else?

She was literally asking him to jump into a wolf’s den, which wasn’t exactly wrong in this case.

“You are really, really crazy,” he muttered again, more quietly this time, as one of the daggers vanished from his hand, as his gaze lifted from the window that instantly disappeared before his eyes.

His eyes locked onto the dire wolves, who had already started moving.

“Do you think I’ll be able to complete such a ridiculous quest?”

He said in ‘annoyance’ as he started walking, his body already moving toward them.

All of their eyes snapped at him, sharpening suddenly, as their maws curled into snarls as they growled lowly.

The larger wolf growled loudly, as if commanding the others.

[I think you will. And don’t talk like you didn’t want to.]

A small smile appeared on Lucian’s face as he moved, instantly leaping over a wolf before landing on its head.

“Akasha…” he muttered, jumping once again as another of them rushed at him, its claws slashing at the one he was standing on.

Lucian ran away slightly, making some distance before kicking another wolf, slamming its frame into the others with a heavy, loud impact.

Lucian didn’t stop.

He moved, constantly, relentlessly.

A wide smile began to spread across his face.

“Akasha… I told you this before, right?”

His voice rose slightly, not in fear… but something else.

[What?] Akasha asked, slightly confused over his conversation as he attacked them.

Why was he not focusing on the fight?

Still, she didn’t say anything.

“I…”

Lucian stabbed the dagger straight into one of the wolf’s skulls, making the dagger crack slightly under the resistance.

But it still went in.

The wolf’s body twitched violently before collapsing, as warm blood splattered over his face, over his already stained shirt.

“I… love you!!!”

He screamed, his voice loud, unhinged, and laced with madness, his shout reverberating.

At the same time—

He used suppression intent again, as an invisible pressure exploded outwards, despite the sharp pain in his head that was slowly increasing.

His legs trembled slightly, especially because of the wound on his thigh that sent jolts of pain upward through his body with each movement.

There was also the scratched wound on his arm.

Blood spilled from those parts, his body struggling, but the smile on his face—

It just grew wider.

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